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An Account of the 

Life and Military Services 

of 

ZIBEON HOOKER 

A Lieutenant in the Army of Washington 



Compiled by his great-grandson 

Clarence Augustus Wiswall 



Member of the Society of the Sons of the Revolution, in the Commonwealth of 
Massachusetts; the Society of Colonial Wars; the Massachusetts Societj' of the 
Founders and Patriots of America, and the Bunker Hill Monument Association. 



MCMXVIII 




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Page 
Portrait of Zibeon Hooker. . . .Frontispiece 

Fac-simile of Autograph 4 

Copy of Commission Facing 13 

Copy of Washington's invitation " 17 

Home in 1799 " 23 

Residence in 1840 " 27 



preface 




HERE is perhaps no mode of 
writing more difficult than that 
of biography, especially when it 
is of one who occupied a public 
station, or is connected by ties of kinship. 
To draw upon one's imagination is 
comparatively easy; but when one is con- 
fined to stubborn facts, facts possibly in the 
memory of men, or matter of historical rec- 
ord, where the least deviation, or trifling 
irregularity from established truths would 
be a subject of criticism, it is an affair of no 
small labor and anxiety. 

What is here written is of interest, 
doubtless, only to the descendants of the 
person whose life and character is por- 
trayed. 

There has been no attempt to weave a 
story of romance concerning the War of the 
Revolution, for others have fully covered 
the ground, nor unduly to exalt one who so 
long served as a soldier in defense of his 
country and afterwards conscientiously ful- 
filled the duties of citizenship and lived an 
honored member of society, but only to 
perpetuate the qualities of uprightness and 
integrity bequeathed us by our fathers who 
have thus preceded us. 



Their deeds are living truths, 

Their virtues ever shine, 
Till warring men shall cease their strife, 

And future ages merge in time. 

In trying to perpetuate the traits of 
character of one who, irrespective of kin- 
ship, seems to me to represent the highest 
type of patriotism and love of freedom, I 
have been handicapped by lapse of time 
and the absence of all contemporaries. 

By a diligent search of all available 
records and such historical matter as I have 
been able to secure, I have, as I sincerely 
trust, recorded a fairly accurate account of 
the life and service of the Revolutionary 
Patriot, 



Leaving his home at the moment hos- 
tilities began as a drummer in his Company 
of Militia, then joining the Continental 
Army for the duration of the war, rising by 
promotion through the various grades of 
the service to that of First Lieutenant in 
the Army under Washington, retaining the 
confidence and esteem of his superior offi- 
cers and that of the Commander-in-Chief, 
but once reported sick, never absent except 
on furlough, enduring all the hardships and 
dangers of a military life, thence returning 
to his native place after nearly eight years 
of continuous service as destitute of means 
as when he started and obliged to depend 
on his own exertion for the support of him- 
self and family, he sets a standard of loy- 
alty to his country and devotion to duty 
by which the coming generations well may 
pattern. 

May this brief and fragmentary his- 
tory prove a source of inspiration to others 
for all time, is my object in presenting this 
biography. 



_y\^aAAy\AAU^ ^/y-^^pM/J^os^ yifCv^/XAy^jJliy. 

Reading, Mass. 
May 10, 1918 



An account of the life and military services 

of Zibeon Hooker 

in the 

War of the American Revolution 

As well as his subsequent history. 

Some twenty miles to the westward 
of Boston is situated the town of Medfield, 
which at the commencement of the War 
of the Revolution numbered about seven 
hundred people. 

Among these, was William Hooker, 
(and wife, Mary) who was engaged in the 
occupation of farming. He had inherited 
land and property from his father, Henry, 
who had settled in the Town as early as 
1713. 

Here, on the twelfth of February, 
1752, was born Zibeon Hooker, the subject 
of these memoirs. 

But little is known of his early life. Sermon 
In his youth, he was employed in husband- ^''eached by 
ry until called in defense of his country to ^^^' ^' ^' ^''"'"^ 
engage in the dangers and hardships of a 
military life. He commenced his military 
career at the age of seventeen years as a 
musician in a Company of Minute Men or- 
ganized in his native town. 

Page Seven 



1775 As soon as the news reached him of 

the march of the British to Lexington to 
destroy the Military Stores belonging to the 
Provincial Militia, he, early in the morning 
on April 19th, 1775, started with his Com- 
pany for the scene of action, under Captain 
Benjamin Builard, Colonel Pierce's Regi- 
ment. But the distance being great, and 
the route of the enemy uncertain, they were 
not in season to take part in the action of 
that day and aid the inhabitants of the 
town in their defense. 

A number of these men, of whom he 
was one, continued their march toward 
Boston, where they assisted in besieging 
the city then in possession of the British. 

At this time he acted as Drummer in 
the Company of Minute Men commanded 
by Captain Benjamin Builard in Colonel 
Pierce's Regiment, organized in the Town 
of Sherborne and of which he was a mem- 
ber. 

On April twenty-fourth, his Company 
under Captain Benjamin Builard, was en- 
rolled in Jonathan Brewer's Regiment, of 
which the Lieutenant Colonel was Rufus 
Putnam, in whose Regiment he afterwards 
so long served. 

They quartered in the College build- 
ing, in the Churches and in tents at Cam- 
bridge in the Division commanded by Gen- 

Page Eight 



eral Ward. 

On the morning of June seventeenth, 
the Regiment comprising three hundred 
and eighteen men under Colonel Brewer 
marched to Bunker Hill and took part in 
the battle of that day. 

The Company, consisting of forty-five 
men under Captain Bullard was posted 
at the redoubt and breastworks. At 
the second assault. Colonel Brewer was 
wounded. 

On the third and last attack, their am- 
munition being exhausted, they were driv- 
en from the Hill. During the action, Zib- 
eon Hooker's drum having been rendered 
useless by a musket ball which pierced it, 
he seized the gun of a fallen comrade and 
fought with it during the remainder of the 
battle, for which he was commended by 
his Commanding Officer. Of his Company, 
seven men were killed and eleven wounded. 

They then took post at Cambridge on 
Prospect Hill, where they were stationed 
June twenty-third, in service with the main 
guard, remaining until July sixteenth. Lat- 
er in July, they were in camp at Roxbury 
in General Ward's Division, General Thom- 
as's Brigade. During the winter, the Regi- 
ment was in barracks at this place. Zibeon 
Hooker was in this command nine months 

Page Nine 



See statement on 
file at Pension 
Office 



1776 

Statement on file 
at Pension 
Office 



and on October sixth was appointed Cor- 
poral. 

On the first of January, 1776, he re- 
enlisted in the Seventh Company, Captain 
Benjamin BuUard, Colonel; Asa Whit- 
comb's Sixth Massachusetts Regiment for 
one year as Sergeant, the rate of pay for 
this rank being $8.00 per month, and was 
stationed in barracks at Roxbury. 

March fifth, about four a. m., the Reg- 
iment under General Thomas marched to 
take possession of Dorchester Heights, 
which commanded Boston and where forti- 
fications had been thrown up during the 
night by the American forces. 

In the morning, the British began a 
furious cannonade of the works from the 
forts in Boston and the shipping in the har- 
bor which however, did little damage. 

On the seventeenth the British evacu- 
ate,d .Boston and on the twentieth, the 
Regiment under Colonel Whitcomb entered 
the town and took quarters in several of 
the houses provided for them. 

On July eighteenth, the Declaration 
of Independence was proclaimed from the 
balcony of the State House by Colonel 
Thomas Crafts and the Regiment, under 
Colonel Whitcomb, paraded under arms on 
King (now State) Street. 

Page Ten 



August fifth, the Regiment consisting 
of some five hundred men, had gone 
through the Small-pox, in the town, by in- 
oculation, and all except one recovered. 

August seventh, the Regiment began 
preparation for the march for Ticonderoga 
and about seven a. m., with colors dis- 
played and drums beating they left the 
town and a few days later arrived at 
Skeenboro. From there they moved to 
Ticonderoga, November fifteenth, and were 
placed in barracks. Much sickness pre- 
vailed and many of the men died. He, 
among many others was taken sick and his 
term of enlistment expiring, he soon after- 
wards returned home. 

Soon recovering his health and his mi- Mass. 
litary ardor unabated, he engaged his ser- Archives 
vices for the Town of Sherburne ; and en- 
listed in the Fifth Massachusetts Regiment, 1777 
being raised by Colonel Rufus Putnam, 
January first, 1777, for the Continental 
Army for three years, or the war. 

He was appointed Ensign in the Com- 
pany of which Joseph Morse was Captain, 
and served in this capacity for the ensuing 
year. 

About the first of May, three Compan- 
ies of the Regiment under Colonel Putnam, 
and the remainder July third, left Wor- 
cester and marched for Peekskill. From 

Page Eleven 



there, they were shortly afterwards or- 
dered up the North River to Fort Ann. 
From this point they soon afterwards 
joined the Northern Army about four miles 
above Fort Edwards, under General Gates. 

Early in September, the army with 
General Gates in command of the Northern 
Division, moved from their encampments at 
the mouth of the Mohawk and pitched 
their tents near Stillwater, about twenty 
miles north of Albany and on the west side 
of the Hudson. 

On the nineteenth was fought the Bat- 
tle of Stillwater, a general engagement in 
which the whole ar*my (including their 
Regiment) took part and which lasted till 
after sunset. For four hours, they main- 
tained a contest hand-to-hand. The loss 
on the American side has been variously 
estimated from three to four hundred ; on 
the British, about six hundred. 

October seventh, the Fifth Regiment, 
under Colonel Putnam, stormed the works 
of the German Reserves of Burgoyne's Ar- 
my. In front of these works was a clear 
open field bounded by woods at the dis- 
tance of one hundred and twenty yards. 

In the skirt of the woods, the Regiment 
was posted. The moment orders were giv- 
en to storm, they moved rapidly across the 

Page Twelve 



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open field and entered the works in front. 
As soon as they were re-formed, they 
moved out of the works into the woods 
towards the enemy's enclosed redoubt, on 
the right flank of their main encampment. 

The whole park of the British Artil- 
lery opened on them at five hundred yards. 
From this exposed position they crossed 
the Creek and covered the troops under 
the banks of a stockaded fort. After re- 
maining here about an hour they had or- 
ders to withdraw. 

Articles of Capitulation were signed 
on the seventeenth of October and on the 
afternoon of that day, the British troops 
marched out of their encampment and sur- 
rendered as prisoners of war. Nixon's Bri- 
gade with the Regiment under Colonel Put- 
nam soon afterwards went into winter 
quarters at Albany, 

In November, Zibeon Hooker was ap- 
pointed Second Lieutenant under Captain 
White. They remained in camp till the 
following March, when they were ordered 
to West Point and commenced building for- 
tifications. 

A part of the Regiment were en- 1778 
gaged in this work and the remainder 
under Colonel Putnam, including the Com- 
pany of which Zibeon Hooker was Second 

Page Thirteen 



Lieutenant, were soon after ordered to 
Valley Forge, and joined the army at that 
place under Washington. On the eighteenth 
of June, the British Army, under General 
Clinton, evacuated Philadelphia, and set 
out on the march for New York. Wash- 
ington at once put his army in motion and 
followed in pursuit, hoping for a favorable 
opportunity to attack. This occurred at 
Monmouth on the twenty-eighth, where a 
severe engagement took place. The British 
then continued their march and shortly aft- 
erwards arrived at their destination. The 
American Army under Washington soon re- 
tired to White Plains, where they were sta- 
tioned in July. 

In September, the Army was broken 
up into Divisions and the Regiment under 
Colonel Putnam was posted at Danbury, 
Connecticut, in General Gates' Command. 

Late in December, the Brigade under 
General Nixon arrived at the place as- 
signed them on the Highlands, on tlie road 
from Peekskill to Fishskill, where they 
hutted for the winter. 
1779 About the first of the following Feb- 

ruary in the year 1779, the Regiment was 
ordered to Croton River to build the 
bridge, where they were comfortably 
housed for the rest of the winter. This work 
was completed in March. 

Page Fotirteen ■ 



February twenty-fourth, Zibeon Hook- Mass. 
er signed a certificate with Colonel Ezra Archives 
Newhall, stating they were in service be- 
fore August 15, 1777 and had not been ab- 
sent subsequently, except on furlough. 

In June, they were in camp at West 
Point. 

He then received a furlough and was 
married at Sherburne, to Sarah Barber, 
June fourteenth. 

Subsequent to this, they had been as- 
signed to Wayne's Light Infantry Brigade, 
which was composed of drafts from the 
various Regiments in the Continental Ser- 
vice. It was the elite of the army, com- 
posed of selected men. In the field they 
formed the van of the army, the Infantry 
in advance, and were expected to guard 
against surprises, and be the first in action. 

As far as completed, they were divid- 
ed into four Regiments, commanded iDy 
Colonels Butler, Meigs, Febiger, and 
Colonel Rufus Putnam. 

Putnam's Regiment, known as the 
Fourth Massachusetts as thus organized, 
was composed of seven Massachusetts 
Light Companies, William Hull as Lieu- 
tenant Colonel. One of the companies was 
commanded by Captain Haffield White, 
Zibeon Hooker, Second Lieutenant. 

On the night of July fifteenth, Wayne 

Page Fifteen 



with three of his regiments, one of which 
was the Fourth Massachusetts, under the 
command of Lieutenant Colonel Hull as- 
saulted and captured Stoney Point, one of 
the most daring and desperate undertak- 
ings of the war. 

They continued to serve in this Bri- 
gade until December, when the Light In- 
fantry Corps was broken up to be again 
merged into the main army. 

During the winter, they were en- 
camped near Newark, N. J. 

j7gQ The army at this time was in a desti- 

, ^ . ,, „ tute condition, many of the men being bare- 

In 5th Mass. Reg. . . n^u -u ^ ■ t j 

Mass. Archives ^^^^' They broke camp m January and 
took quarters at West Point. 

Lieutenant Colonel Newhall of Put- 
nam Regiment marched with two hundred 
men to do duty on the lines, January thir- 
tieth. The winter was one of the most sev- 
ere on record for this section. At one 
time, there was four feet of snow on the 
ground on a level and the men suffered the 
severest hardships for the want of clothing 
and provisions. Sometimes, five or six 
days without bread, at other times equally 
destitute of meat. As Washington said, 
"the soldiers eat every kind of horse food 
except hay." Their pay was five months in 
arrears and the depreciation of the Contin- 

Page Sixteen 




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Address on Invitation 



ental money was such, it was of little value 
when received, about 40 to 1. 

April thirteenth, Zibeon Hooker was 
commissioned First Lieutenant. In May, 
he was at Croton River and remained out 
till July when the Grand Army crossed the 
North River and encamped at Orangetown. 
On June twenty-third, they were attacked 
by five thousand British at Springfield, New 
Jersey, but were compelled to retreat, be- 
ing greatly outnumbered, and the town 
was burned. 

They were then stationed at West 
Point and were there at the time of Arn- 
old's treason. They remained here in gar- 
rison during the balance of the year. 

Continental Army pay accounts show ^^^^' Archives 
Lieutenant Hooker's services from January 
first to December thirty-first, 1780. 

He was on furlough at Sherburne by jjgi 
leave of Commandant of Third Brigade 
from January seventeenth to April first, 
when he was ordered to march to camp 
with recruits. January fifth, return of ef- 
fectives in garrison. West Point, state the 
Company was there till June fifteenth. 

The winter 1780 and 1781 was one of 
much suffering and privation. The soldiers 
were on the point of starvation, often en- 
tirely out of food and were exposed to the 

Page Seventeen 



rigors of winter without proper clothing, 
and had served nearly twelve months with- 
out pay. 

In June, the Army crossed over the 
Hudson at West Point, and reached Peeks- 
kill on the twenty-second. 

August twenty-first. Colonel Putnam 
was ordered by General Heath to parade 
with his Regiment and form an advance for 
the Army which, under Washington, was 
preparing to set out for Yorktown. They 
accordingly marched at noon that day and 
formed a detachment to cover that part of 
the country in front of the Army, and were 
engaged in this duty for several weeks. 

While Washington was absent with 
the main army during the Yorktown cam- 
paign. General Heath was left in command 
of the posts on the Hudson. Among the 
troops were ten Massachusetts Regiments, 
including that of Colonel Putnam's. 

On September seventeenth, the Second 
Massachusetts Brigade, of which the Fifth 
Regiment was a part, were sent to garrison 
West Point and were engaged in scouting 
duty until about November first. Soon 
after, they went into winter quarters at 
New Windsor, in log huts erected for the 
purpose. 

Page Eighteen 



During the year 1782, there was vir- 1782 
tually a cessation of hostilities in the mid- 
dle and eastern states. A partisan war- 
fare was being prosecuted in the south. 

For the remainder of the year, the 
Army, under Washington, was stationed at 
West Point and posts on the Hudson. 

In the fall, preliminary negotiations 
were commenced, looking toward a termi- 
nation of the war. 

On the nineteenth of April, 1783, a ces- 1783 
sation of hostilities was publicly proclaimed 
to the army. 

The Society of the Cincinnati was 
formed May tenth. This society was com- 
posed of officers of the American Army who 
served for three years, or to the end of the 
war, with honor, and who contributed one 
month's pay to the permanent fund. Lieu- 
tenant Zibeon Hooker was an original 
member. 

In June, many of the officers and men 
were granted a furlough and were not 
again called into service, 

A definite treaty of peace was signed 
on the twenty-second of September and 
Congress, having ratified it, they issued a 
proclamation to disband the army, which 
was accordingly done, and in November, 

Page Nineteen 



the officers and men received their formal 
discharge. 

To place the officers of the army in a 
situation which would render their com- 
missions valuable and hold out to them 
the prospect of a comfortable old age, in 
the country saved by their blood, their suf- 
ferings and the labor of their best years, 
and then to rescue from the contempt and 
misery too often attendant on poverty, men 
who had devoted the prime of life to the 
service of the public was an object, which 
had always been dear to the heart of the 
commander-in-chief. 

The first resolution on the subject, 
passed in 1778, allowed to all the Military 
Officers who should serve during the war 
and not hold any office of profit under the 
United States, half pay for seven years. 

In 1780, a vote was passed allowing 
half pay for life to all who should serve in 
the Army of the United States till the end 
of the war, also recommending to the sev- 
eral states to make up the depreciation in 
the currency which had been used by the 
army. By this time, the Continental money 
had practically ceased to circulate or to 
have any value. 



Parje Twenty 



IN CONGRESS, March 22, 1783 

It was Resolved : That such officers as 
are now in service and shall continue there- 
in until the end of the war, shall be en- 
titled to receive the amount of five years' 
full pay in money or securities of interest 
of six per cent, per annum. Accordingly, 
commutation certificates were issued for 
five years' full pay from November, 1783, 
but as Congress fixed no time for their pay- 
ment, they had little value. Most of the re- 
cipients disposed of them for a trivial sum, 
though the Government finally redeemed 
them in full. 

Among the list of officers of the Con- 
tinental Army of the Revolution who served 
to the end of the war and acquired the right 
to half pay and commutation and bounty 
land under the proposed act of Congress, 
appears the name of Zibeon Hooker, Lieu- 
tenant. 

During the summer, furloughs were 
freely granted the officers and men, and the 
army was gradually disbanded. 

Toward the close of the year. Con- 
gress issued a proclamataion that such part 
of the army as stood engaged to serve dur- 
ing the war should from and after the 
third day of November next, be absolutely 
discharged from said service. 

Page Twenty-one 



Records of the 

Rev. War 

by 

W. J. R. Saffree 

Page 423 



With great exertion by the Superin- 
tendent of Finance, four months' pay in 
part of several years' arrears was given 
to the army. With this trifling sum, they 
were obliged to be content. 

On the day preceding their dismission 
General Washington issued his farewell 
order. After bidding them an affectionate 
farewell, he closed with these words, "May 
the choicest of Heaven's favors both here 
and hereafter attend those who under di- 
vine auspices have secured innumerable 
blessings for others. With these wishes 
and this Benediction, the Commander-in- 
Chief is about to retire from service ; the 
curtain of separation will soon be drawn, 
and the military scene, to him, will be 
closed forever." 

In this manner terminated the more 
than eight years of continuous military ser- 
vices of the subject of these memoirs. 

Leaving his native town at the "Lex- 
ington Alarm," on the morning of April 
nineteenth, 1775, thence proceding to the 
encampment at Boston ; participating in the 
famous battle of Bunker Hill, and in the 
following March, at the British evacuation 
of Boston, thence in the campaign at Ti- 
conderoga, the following January joining 
the Continental Army and taking part in 

Page Twenty-ttvo 



the capture of Burgoyne's Army, then in 
camp at West Point and at Valley Forge 
under Washington, in pursuit of the British 
Army to Monmouth, in the campaign of 
Wayne's Light Infantry at Stoney Point and 
Verplank's Point; thence in the army un- 
der Washington till the disbanding of the 
Continental forces, enduring all the hard- 
ships and dangers of military service till 
the end, retaining the confidence of his su- 
perior officers and the approbation of 
Washington — as evinced by his invitation 
to dine with him, I have traced, imperfect- 
ly it is true, but correct, I trust, in all essen- 
tials, the part he took in gaining the Inde- 
pendence of the American colonies. 

He then retired to his native place, 
poor indeed in this world's goods, as were 
all his compatriots. He removed thence 
to Newton Lower Falls about the year 1790, 
with his large and increasing family, de- 
pending alone through the blessings of the 
God of the armies of Israel on the labor of 
his hands for support. 

March thirtieth, 1818, he applied for 
a pension, which was allowed at the rate 
of $20.00 per month. 

On June seventeenth, 1835, forty sur- 
vivors of the Battle of Bunker Hill were 
present at the laying of the corner stone 

Page Tiventy-tkree 



Sermon by 
kev.A.L. Baury. 
Page 20 

"Your fathers-- 
where are they?" 



Bureau of 
Pensions. 



of the monument. Doubtless, he was one 
of them. September 5, 1831, his wife de- 
parted this life at the age of seventy-five 
years. 

With his amiable and pious consort, 
he had lived in the happiest relations more 
than half a century ; and with her, had the 
satisfaction of seeing their children and 
children's children established in the world 
whose delight it has been to know their 
father and mother, and who rise up and 
call them blessed, "for they rest from their 
labors and their works do follow them." 

As a man he possessed great moral 
worth, the strictest integrity, uncommon 
purity of character, and in the most exemp- 
lary manner discharged the relative duties 
of life. 

As a husband, he was kind and af- 
fectionate ; an indulgent yet faithful par- 
ent, a constant and obliging friend and 
neighbor. 

Such, too, was his peaceful disposi- 
tion, that, during an unusually protracted 
life, never was he known to be at variance 
with a human being. 

Of him it can with truth be said, he 
had not an enemy in the world. He was a 
friend to his country. Trained in the School 
of Washington, the principles there im- 

Page Twenty-four 



bibed, he adhered to with firmness and con- 
stancy. Even when the vital flame was 
about to expire, he rejoiced in the prospect 
of that policy being resumed in the national 
counsels, which he believed would conduce 
to the safety, honor and welfare of the re- 
public. 

The evening of his days was peculiarly 
serene and happy. 

Sharing in that justice which the gen- 
eral government was late to render the of- 
ficers and soldiers of the Revolutionary con- 
test, his pecuniary resources were ample 
for all his purposes. 

Retaining in an unusual degree his 
mental powers and bodily strength, ad- 
vancing years brought none of the infirmi- 
ties and peevish humors that not unfre- 
quently attend gray hair. 

His society v/as agreeable to the young 
as well as to the old, and the occasional 
visits he made to his children and distant 
friends were always anticipated with pleas- 
ure and enjoyed with satisfaction. He was 
an original member of the Society of the 
Cincinnati and for several successive years, 
one of its almoners, in dispensing its boun- 
ties to such members, their widows or or- 
phan children, as required assistance, and 
for whose benefit its funds were established. 

Page twenty-five 



His portrait by Clark of Cambridge is 
now in the possession of one of the family. 
Also his framed commission in the Army. 

Though educated among Christians of 
another communion, on the introduction 
of the Protestant Episcopal Church into his 
village, he at once espoused this good cause 
and having examined and approved its 
doctrines, his name is inscribed in the leg- 
islative act of their incorporation. 

When filling the office of warden, he 
discharged its duties acceptably and with 
exemplary fidelity; ever grateful for the 
establishment of this parish, and rejoicing 
in its success and prosperity. 

Above all, he was a humble and sin- 
cere Christian. Through the prolonged 
period of nearly 89 years, he possessed un- 
interrupted health, till a few months pre- 
ceding his death, when his vision became 
impaired. This calamity befalling him at 
the time when the sudden death of a be- 
loved son in a distant city was announced, 
tended to depress his spirits. 

Subsequently to these afflictions, he 
seemed pensive and abstracted, anticipat- 
ing no doubt that the time of his departure 
was at hand; yet amid his bereavements 
never manifesting in the slightest degree, 

Page Tiventy-six 



a murmuring thought nor uttering a repin- 
ing word. 

When confined for some days to what 
proved his dying apartment, the fortitude, 
equanimity and trust in God, that distin- 
guished him in life did not forsake him. On 
being informed that this would probably 
prove his last sickness, he was calm and un- 
disturbed, expressing a perfect willingness 
to submit to the divine will. 

Soon after, on December twenty-third, 
1840, his peaceful spirit took its flight from 
earth, with the belief that he who had not 
merely fought the battles of his country, 
but under the banner of the cross, the good 
fight of faith had gone to receive from the 
Captain of his Salvation the unfading 
wreath of immortal blessedness. 

His funeral sermon was preached in 
St. Mary's Church, Newton Lower Falls, 
on Thursday, December twenty-fourth, by 
the Reverend A. L. Baury, the Rector. 

The text was taken from Zechariah 
1-5 — "Your Fathers, Where Are They?" 

And when the interrogatory of the 
text is addressed to his posterity, "Your 
fathers, where are they?" — they will reply, 
"Their bodies rest in peace, but their 
names, inscribed in the Lamb's book of life, 
live forever and ever." 

Page Twenty-seven 



ilaasarijucftta Ard|*mfa 

Hooker, Zibeon, Sherburne. Drum- 
mer, Capt. Benjamin Builard's Company of 
Minute-men, Colonel Peirce's Regiment, 
which marched on the alarm of April 19, 
1775; service, five days; also. Captain Ben- 
jamin Builard's Company, Colonel Jona- 
than Brewer's Regiment; muster roll dated 
August first, 1775 ; enlisted April twenty- 
fourth, 1775 ; service, three months, nine 
days; also. Sergeant, Captain Thomas Wil- 
lington's (late Captain Benjamin Builard's) 
Company, Colonel Asa Whitcomb's Regi- 
ment; muster roll dated Camp at Ticonder- 
oga, November twenty-seventh, 1776 ; en- 
listed October first, 1776 ; reported sick at 
Number Four; also, list of men raised to 
serve in the Continental Army from Colonel 
Builard's Regiment, as returned by Aaron 
Gardner, Captain, First Company, and Mos- 
es Perry, Lieutenant, Ninth Company ; resi- 
dence, Sherburne, engaged for town of 
Sherburne ; rank. Ensign ; joined Rufus Put- 
nam's Regiment; Continental Army pay ac- 
counts for service from January first, 1777, 
to December thirty-first, 1779 ; reported as 
serving ten months as Ensign, twenty-six 
months as Lieutenant; also, Third Ensign, 

Page Twenty-eight 



with rank of Second Lieutenant, return of 
officers belonging to Colonel Putnam's 
(Fifth) Regiment, made by Ezra Newhall, 
Lieutenant - Colonel Commandant; also 
Lieutenant, Colonel Putnam's Regiment; re- 
turn of officers for clothing, dated Boston, 
November twenty-fourth, 1778; also, same 
Regiment; petition addressed to the Coun- 
cil, dated Boston, December twenty-second, 
1778, signed by said Hooker and others, 
asking for an order on the Board of War 
for greatcoats; petition granted in Coun- 
cil December twenty-second, 1778; also, 
Second Lieutenant, Captain Haffield 
White's Company, Colonel Rufus Putnam's 
(Fourth) Regiment; return of men entitled 
to gratuity ; approved April twenty-second, 
1779; also. Lieutenant, Colonel Putnam's 
Regiment; Continental Army pay accounts 
for service from January 1, 1780, to Decem- 
ber thirty-first, 1780; also, Lieutenant, 
Fifth Massachusetts Regiment; list of offi- 
cers promoted in the Continental Army; 
commissioned July twenty-eigth, 1780; al- 
so Lieutenant, Captain Nathan Goodale's 
Company, Colonel Rufus Putnam's (Fifth) 
Regiment; muster rolls for January-April, 
1781, dated Garrison at West Point; also, 
Colonel Putnam's (Fifth) Regiment; re- 
turns of effectives between January nine- 
teenth, 1781, and June first, 1781, dated 

Page Twenty-nine 



Garrison, West Point; reported on furlough 
at Sherburne by leave of Commandant 
Third Brigade from January seventeenth, 
1781, furlough to expire April first, 1781; 
also, abstract for three months' pay due 
said Hooker, Lieutenant, Fifth Massachu- 
setts Regiment, he having been ordered to 
march to camp immediately with recruits, 
as returned by John Crane, Colonel of Ar- 
tillery, dated Boston, May twenty-second, 
1781. 

(From Massachusetts Archives.) The 
Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors of the 
Revolutoinary War, Volume VIII, pages 
222 and 223. Zibeon Hooker, Sherburne, 
Corporal, Captain Benjamin Bullard's Com- 
pany, Colonel Jonathan Brewer's Regi- 
ment; company's "returns", dated Prospect 
Hill, October sixth, 1795. Page 25. 



Page Thirty 



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Under the Act of Congress approved 
May first, 1828, it was provided that each 
surviving officer of the Continental Army 
who was entitled to half pay by Resolve of 
October twenty-first, 1780, be authorized 
to receive the amount of his full pay, ac- 
cording to his rank in the line and to. con- 
tinue during his natural life. 

While I have no documentary evidence 
on this matter, it is reasonable to assume 
this was the amount of his pension in his 
later years, and that he received the full 
pay to which he was entitled as a Lieuten- 
ant when in the service. The Reverend Dr. 
Baury in his sermon, distinctly says his 
means were ample for his requirements. 



Page Thirty-two 



A&Ji^tt&a Number El^nt 

Report of Valley Forge Memorial 
Commission 

By Philip Reade 

In a most exhaustive and painstaking 
printed report by the Valley Forge Memor- 
ial Commission, issued in 1912 by General 
Philip Reade, is given a complete list of all 
the Massachusetts officers who served un- 
der Washington at this place in the winter 
of 1777 and 1778. Among these is Second 
Lieutenant Zibeon Hooker, Fifth Massa- 
chusetts Continental Regiment, commanded 
by Colonel Rufus Putnam. 



AinJu^ttJia Number Jnur 

The fac-simile of his autograph on 
page 4 was taken from the roll of the origi- 
nal members of the Society of the Cincin- 
nati in the Archives of the Society. 



Page Thirty-three 



At the time of his death, he was living 
with his daughter, Mrs. William Hurd, in 
the house, now standing (1915) at the cor- 
ner of Grove and Washington streets, New- 
ton Lower Falls. 

The house in which he lived in 1799 
is also still standing on Washington street, 
Newton Lower Falls. His daughter, Ade- 
line, was born here. 

He has been described to the writer 
by his grand-daughter, Mira Hurd, who re- 
membered him when she was a child, as 
a man rather above the medium height, 
of a full figure and very erect in his bear- 
ing. He always wore his hair down his 
back in a queue. 

Another old resident recalls seeing 
him with his fishing pole over his shoulder, 
going to the river on a fishing trip, of which 
he was fond, conspicuous by his military 
bearing. 

Benjamin Neil, a very old resident of 
the "Falls" once related that the Captain 
was called on for a speech at the time peace 
was declared at the termination of the war 
of 1812 and mounting a log which was 
near, made an impromptu address. 

Page Thirty-four 



On the stone erected to his memory in 
St. Mary's churchyard, Newton Lower 
Falls, is inscribed the following tribute: 



^ete Ues the ^^^^ 
of 
Zibeon Hooker 
an officer of the American 
Revolutionary Army 
whose public services, 
private virtues and 
Christian character, 
have embalmed his 
memory in the hearts 
of a grateful posterity. 
Died Dec. 23, 1840 

-^Sed 89 yeats 

Page Thirty-five 



